Kareem Parker’s last-second shot lifts Plainfield South past Minooka

PLAINFIELD – The Plainfield South boys basketball team knew what was potentially at stake Friday night when it hosted Minooka. A win and some good fortune could put the Cougars in a much more advantageous spot with the conference season winding down. A loss would further muddle the already crowded SouthWest Prairie Conference picture.

It was only fitting it came down to the final play.

Kareem Parker managed to sink a close-range shot with 1.1 seconds left on the clock, and Minooka couldn’t get another attempt at it, giving the Cougars a 46-45 conference win.

Sitting at fourth in the SouthWest Prairie Conference overall heading into Friday, Plainfield South was second in the Western Division behind Joliet West. Via the win over the Indians coupled with West’s loss to Bolingbrook on Friday night, the Cougars are now tied with the Tigers for first in the division.

While there’s still plenty of regular-season ball left to play, the Cougars (14-6, 7-3) couldn’t help but celebrate with a dance party in the locker room afterward. Even coach Jeff Howard had to laugh and rejoice at the effort his squad gave. He also gave props to the Indians for their effort.

“That was a very tough Minooka team,” Howard said. “They beat Joliet West, Romeoville, they’ve been playing very well. I knew it was going to be a half-court game, possession by possession. If we make our free throws, it [doesn’t] come down to that at the end, but give [our kids] credit for executing at the end."

A few times, in fact.

The game was tight throughout, with neither squad leading by more than six at any point. Still, Minooka remained in front much of the second half and was up by five with 2:02 to go. Parker cut it to 43-40 before Jeremiah Huerta sank a floater with 1:17 to go to trim the deficit to one.

Down a basket with 30 seconds left, Corey Nobles – who’d made just one basket to that point – drove down the lane and put Plainfield South up by one. Minooka coach Brett Hespell called a timeout with 21 ticks left to set up a play.

Zane Caves was fouled with 8.4 seconds to go. The Minooka junior went to the line, sank the first shot to tie it and made the second to put Minooka up 45-44. Howard called a timeout, the Cougars took the ball down the court, and Parker made what wound up being the game-winner.

“Any college coach that’s reading this [should know] that kid’s a sleeper,” Howard said of Parker. “He’s really just coming into his own. He’s 6-foot-6 with a wingspan of 6-11. He’s really starting to figure out what he can do. Having said that, Corey Nobles got in the lane and had some big defensive plays in the first quarter to get it started.”

Parker led the way with 13 points for the Cougars, Joell Tunnat added nine. Nobles, Brilan Townsend and Huerta each had six.

Minooka (12-9, 5-5) spent much of the night with a slight edge. The Indians blocked seven shots and had a rebounding advantage in the mid-quarters.

They also had good individual performances. Caves joined Jaden Boe with 10 points each, and Brady Hairald led the team with 12. Hespell said the Indians will still have to be better moving forward.

“We weren’t fundamentally sound enough tonight,” he said. “[The Cougars] do a good job and play hard. They were in the right spots, but we didn’t close the game out because we weren’t executing fundamentals.

“If we’re not going to do that, it’s going to be hard to win against good teams.”